Dartmouth solar farm puts old landfill to new use

The capped Russells Mills Road Landfill has a new lease on life after Borrego Solar Systems Inc. quietly topped the former dump with a solar farm.

MATT CAMARA

DARTMOUTH — The capped Russells Mills Road Landfill has a new lease on life after Borrego Solar Systems Inc. quietly topped the former dump with a solar farm, a venture that drew none of the complaints common to similar solar projects in town.

"It's the town of Dartmouth that showed leadership today," state Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Mark Sylvia said Wednesday during a ribbon cutting for the facility.

Representatives from UMass Dartmouth and the Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance also attended the ceremony.

The facility became operational in February, just five months after construction began, and was producing almost a megawatt of power Wednesday. The facility's output will fluctuate based on weather and time of year.

The project is Borrego's third in Dartmouth and the California-based company employs more people in Massachusetts than in its home state. The company's three facilities in Dartmouth also make up its largest collection of projects in any one place, Borrego senior project developer Joe Harrison said.

The farm — the state's third landfill-based solar array — is expected to save the town $105,000 annually and $3 million over a 20-year span.

The solar farm can produce 1.4 megawatts of power, slightly less than one of the two 1.5 megawatt wind turbines in Fairhaven, which stand 396 feet tall on land owned by the town.

"Turning this landfill into a solar energy-producing asset bolsters Dartmouth's ongoing commitment and leadership in sustainability," Borrego CEO Mike Hall said in a statement.

"Projects like this offer the state immense economic opportunities, both in reducing carbon emissions and in generating local jobs and revenue."

Dartmouth is second statewide in renewable energy production, although recently proposed projects have found themselves mired in controversy.

A Con Edison Development project in Hixville caused an uproar early last year and led to Town Meeting creating a ban on industrial solar farms in residential districts.

"In our communities, like here, we have to be moving forward," Keating said during the ceremony. "I hope it's a lesson for other communities, as well."